Bianca, Paul and I just returned from the PayPal X Innovate 2009 developers conference, where we exhibited BarterQuest as a silver sponsor. PayPal has been working with us to develop tailored applications for the payment of  fees and charges in an easy and secure manner when introduced onto the site. Starting at the top with Scott Thompson, the President of PayPal, and including John Donahoe, the CEO of eBay (which owns PayPal), we were able to meet and greet various people at PayPal and, we hope, further cement the  positive perception that PayPal has of BarterQuest and the BarterQuest platform.

The conference presented a tremendous opportunity for the company to network with the Internet community more generally. We met numerous participants in the technology area and initiated a number of discussions relating to applications for our platform. There is no doubt that we were able to unfurl our flag, wave it repeatedly, and raise our profile. There was constant activity around the BarterQuest kiosk. Responses ranged from very interesting to a great idea.

On a more personal note, it was a thrill for us to see the BarterQuest name projected on a giant screen in the same space as very well established players in the technology arena. It was more than interesting to note that at the closing keynote address in the “big hall” specific mention was made of “innovative developers who have created a global bartering platform with a virtual currency” as an example of how the Internet will be pushed forward into the future. Sounded a lot like BarterQuest! In the words of my generation, it was all very groovy.